What Lays Beneath
by MyFallenAngel
Summary: NejiTen, discontinued. Neji never says 'I love you', and it's grating Tenten's nerves. What happened when she tries to get him to confess... at the same time as he tries to get her to confess? Chaos. TOTAL chaos.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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**What Lies Beneath**

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**Chapter One: Issues**

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Tenten was lying on her bed, her eyes closed. Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Temari were all lying on the futons laid around her bed, all reading from a teen magazine Tenten had been subscribing for almost a year until now. It was a magazine about teenager girls falling in love with teenager boys – but aside from that it had a rubric about weapons, so that was what makes Tenten subscribed to the magazine.

When Tenten first subscribed to the magazine, it was Hinata who presented her. The Hyuuga heir had been subscribing it for a longer time than heaven could imagine, and feeling interested on Hinata's recommendation, Tenten followed the younger girl's step.

As they were all chatting and listening to the music, a sparrow flew inside the room from an unclosed window and landed on Temari's shoulder. The girl frowned a bit, but after seeing that the sparrow wore a bracelet of Suna, she stopped and took the letter it was having.

She blushed hotly, and Tenten crowded over, curiosity rising in her heart. She snatched the pink letter from Temari's hands and flipped it open. She rushed through the words. "_Dear Tema-chan, hope you'll be having a good night sleep in Konoha. I miss you already, and it just has been a day since you're off! Well, it's gonna be a long week without you here in Suna, and by the way… I love you and always will…_" She paused as she stared hard on Temari's face, and continued, "_Love, Yuki._"

Temari blushed once more, as Sakura's eyes widened. "Wow, Temari! That is so sweet! Yuki… that's your newest boyfriend, right?"

"Don't say newest like that, you fool, Sakura." Ino scolded, "You made it sounded like Temari's relationships never lasted too long."

"It's true!" Sakura whined.

"Well?" Tenten arched her eyebrows, "That's so sweet, Temari! I _would _love to get a boyfriend…"

"You _already _have a boyfriend!" Ino interrupted, snatching the letter from her hand and reading it herself. "_Wow. _This is so damn beautiful!"

"I know I have one, Ino." The weapon mistress replied, "It's just that I want a romantic one. Someone who could say _I love you _so easily and mean it. Neji is _not _like that. He never even say anything about love ever since we get together!"

"Yeah, I understand your feelings." Sakura chirped in, "Sasuke-kun's not like that either. Oh, Temari! You're so damn lucky to have a boyfriend like Yuki-kun! I really _wish _Sasuke-kun is like that!"

"Guys, guys, calm down." Temari giggled, feeling very lucky and happy that she was the center of the attention tonight. "If you want to have them say _I love you, _why don't you just try?" She flipped the magazine to a certain page and grinned. "See? Here's a solution!"

Tenten and Sakura quickly crowded over, their noses digging in to the magazine. "_How to make a guy say 'I love you'…_" They read together. They looked at each other, squealed and returned back to the magazine.

_**HOW TO MAKE A GUY SAY 'I LOVE YOU'?**_

_**1. Be romantic towards him.**_

_Yes, be romantic to him. If you are not expressive, he will not be expressive either. Say "I love you." Before going home at date nights, and if you do there's a fifty percent chance he will return the "I love you" with another "I love you"! Get lucky, gals!_

_**2. Be a little flirtier.**_

_No, we don't mean flirting towards the other guys, but to him. Get MORE than romantic, gals! Some guys are just so dense that they didn't have even the slightest clue that you are hoping for a more romantic relationship! Get lively and get flirty!_

_**3. Make him jealous.**_

_If the methods don't work, there is still this third method. Make him jealous. Flirt with other guys – flirt with the guys HE HATES! This will make him frustrated, surely! Once he does, be sulky and make him feel at fault! And gals, sure you know what to do after that, right?_

_**4. Be sulky.**_

_Yep, be sulky. You may even cry! Guys LOVE it when their gals cry – they think we look much cuter and better when tears are deforming from our eyes! And once tears are strolling down your eyes, start faulting him and throwing him and accusing him for not loving you! He'll confess FOR SURE!_

_**5. Ask. Just ask. Four words in a question. **_

_If you STILL COULDN'T get him to say that piece of romantic philosophy, then WOW, your boyfriend must be so dense or there's something behind it all. Maybe he has another girlfriend or something like that. But girls, we'll put that aside and just put the fifth and last method into work, okay? So, ASK. It's very simple to ask, but it needs much courage. You could just ask, "Do you love me?" to him after dinnertime. You could ask, "Do you love me?" to him when he holds your hand. Whenever, wherever, just ask that if you really crave for the answer… And heavens pray that he will answer you this time…_

_**Why should he say that?**_

_Well, saying 'I love you' is a basic one from all the dating rules you need to follow. Know why? There are expressive guys who say 'I love you' as easy as saying 'Hello'. If he means it, then thank heavens. If he doesn't, screw him and just scatter around until another loveable, cute hottie find his way to your heart. But that aside, there are also unexpressive and dense guys who don't even know that these Three Lovely Words exist. He just doesn't show that he loves you, and you are afraid. Very afraid that he doesn't love you anymore. But know what, girls? Most guys always mean the words they are saying… We're saying MOST, so you're lucky if yours show loving and caring to you… _

_But if you don't, then follow the guidelines, step by step, and hopefully he'll say the Three Lovely Words. Loveable, huh? _

_Best of luck!_

"Wow…" Sakura breathed, letting out a breath after she finished reading the article, while Tenten's eyes widened in anticipation. The weapon mistress looked at her, simply dumbfounded, and asked, "You're following _these guidelines_? Sakura, are you crazy? These are pointless!"

"Yes. I'm following this magazine." Sakura replied with utter determination, her voice sedate, "It won't hurt, Tenten. And I also really need to know whether he still loves me or not! If he doesn't, well, I'm still sixteen. There's a whole lot guys outside my world…"

"Really?" Ino shot back sarcastically, "I thought those years of loving Sasuke-kun were worth it when at last you got together. I can still remember what you said! _Oh, Sasuke-KUN loves me! Sasuke-KUN loves me! We're TOGETHER now, INO_!" She mimicked annoyingly.

The pink haired kunoichi grinned. "Of course, duh! It's worth it." She said in satisfaction, "But I just want to test him! What's so wrong about testing, anyway?"

"Nothing." Temari smirked. She turned towards Tenten, who was frowning and reading the article once more, "So are you trying Neji or not, Tenten? It seems like a FUN thing to do…"

"Hah. Fat chance." Tenten rolled her eyes, "Neji's not that stupid. He'll probably find out that I am tricking him or whatever…"

"Guys are _dense_." The wind mistress cut her out, "Guys are _dense_. Neji is _dense _too. No matter whether he is a prodigy or whatever, he is also a guy. Guys are dense! Do you agree, Sakura?"

"Yes, of course!"

"S-so?" Shy Hinata, who was almost very silent, suddenly asked, "Are you going to test it on Neji-niisan, Tenten?"

"Hmm." Tenten looked thoughtful, "I don't know. Honestly, I think Temari is right. Guys are dense, and Neji is dense too. But this stupid guidelines are just so stupid that I think the writers have already got insane or something like that…"

"Then why are you still subscribing to this magazine?" Ino blurted.

"Well, there's the weapons rubric… and the whole lot recipes…"

"I see."

"So?" Sakura asked, "Are you doing it?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Please do, Tenten! I don't want to do this alone…" Sakura pleaded, her eyes twinkling in Tenten's direction as the weapon mistress sweat-dropped. The pink-haired kunoichi scooted closer, her eyes still shining, as she knew by fact that Tenten couldn't stand pleads. "Please please please please please?"

"I…"

"Just do it, Tenten." Ino encouraged.

"Yes, I believe you could just… do it." Temari chimed in.

"M-maybe Neji-niisan will confess, Tenten…" Hinata followed.

Tenten's eyes widened in anticipation as she backed off from her girl friends, but the four were far too excited. "… I…" She gulped, seeing the hungry reaction, "FINE. I'll do it!"

"Yay!"

_Shit_.

"So tell us a little about this, and probably we can help you." Temari continued with a sneaky look on her face, "Tell us about Neji."

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The Hyuuga household was always silent, but never more silent than tonight. But then again, Hyuuga Neji liked silence.

As he moved from his bed to take another book to read, he sneezed. Was someone talking about him? He tensed up a little, but cooled down knowing that nobody will hurt him, since the guards put on the gates of the compound were fully trained and armed.

Neji yawned and looked around his room, trying to figure out something to read. It had been a habit of his – to _always _read before sleeping. And yet, the habit was useful. It seemed like his brain worked the best at nighttimes…

His eyes scattered on the bookshelf, where some magazines were laying. He leaned down to take the latest issue and stumbled to his bed, sitting down as he flipped the pages. His hand stopped when he tumbled over a headline: _How to make your girl confess to you._

Now that was completely dumb. He knew Tenten loves him, since every time they were together her eyes sparkled happily and they were comfortable around each other. He even thought that they were destined to be together…

He was about to flip over to the next page when a thought dawned on him.

_Well…_

Surely it didn't hurt to try, right?

Neji flipped back to the page with that big, blue headline and began to read.

_**HOW TO MAKE YOUR GIRL CONFESS TO YOU?**_

_**1. Be romantic towards her.**_

_Of course you HAVE to be romantic… The guys go first, hello? Isn't that right? The guys go FIRST. You could just screw that 'Ladies First' phrase, because girls like it more when the guys are the ones who get aggressive. So… kiss her goodnight, ask her this and that, and BE ROMANTIC. That's the point._

_**2. Be a little flirtier.**_

_Be flirty to her. She may get confused in a while, but once she gets over it there's a chance that she will confess! Get flirty, say how much she looks pretty with her new hair-do, say anything! Hint: girls like it if boys compliment their appearance._

_**3. Make her jealous.**_

_Oh! Like spices heat up cooking, jealousy heats up relationships! Flirt with the other girls a little, but don't go overboard when she's around. Hopefully she takes the hint and quickly confess before anything goes wild… _

_**4. Be a man.**_

_Well, you're a male, that's cleared. But you're not exactly a man if you don't know how to handle your girls properly. Whenever she cries, comfort her and tell her that she is probably one of the most wonderful being in your life. Whenever she smiles, compliment how sweet her smile is… and figure out others yourself!_

_**5. Get a grip!**_

_You're a man. Ask her! Men have enough courage (supposedly) to ask their girls anything they want to ask. So, get a grip. Go and ask her. Nuff said, right?_

_**Why should she say that?**_

_Namely, it's because girls are very touched with their feelings. They kept their feelings in mind, and act. But remember, most of the girls are different in heart and different outside. So dig in a little deeper in her – probably you'll find more amazing stuffs than you find out from the Seven Wonders of the World!_

_Back to topic, girls are ones who are touchy. Whenever she says I love you to you, she means it. Or at least, most not wicked girls will mean it. So, take a chance… _

_And do IT!_

Hyuuga Neji frowned as he dumped the magazine on his bed. Oh, nice, now he was starting to consider Tenten's feelings! She loved him… or does she? He frowned again as he laid himself on the bed, closing his eyes. He better got to sleep right now or he will be considering other things he should be rational about…

His eyes zapped open again.

But then again…

_Trying won't hurt, right_?

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Er… right. So this is fully, completely my own idea… What do you think?

Thank you!

Reviews!

Ja ne!


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